Whatever Weds. Owls

Posted in Birding in Nevada, Nature Photography, Owls and Owlets, PhotographyTagged , , , , , , ,

Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

The first week of March I started hiking out to see if a Great Horned Owl had returned to a nest she has used many times in the past. She wasn’t there. March 9th I returned and she was there!

Great Horned Owl-Female nesting

It was time to start looking for the Owlets. I returned on the 19th, 25th, and 26th of March and saw no owlets but, hoped Mama was sitting on eggs.

I returned on April 4th, 14th, and on April 20th a birding girlfriend sent me an email telling me she went by and there were two Owlets! I went the following day, the 21st. When I arrived I only saw Mama no Owlets. So I birded the area and waited and waited. After an hour or so I saw a little white fuzzy head stirring behind Mama then not too long after that the cutest 2 Owlets you’ve ever seen popped up to see what was happening in their new world. They must have just hatched days before by the looks of them.

Great Horned Owl Female with her Owlets in the nest.

They barely could keep their eyes open. They were so tired. Mama had one eye on me the whole time though.

I’ll be making regular trips over to watch them grow, and hopefully this year will be the year I see them branching. I’ve never seen the previous year’s owlets do that here, and I’ve also never seen the Male GH Owl who I know has to be nearby.

Spring is here so I put out the outdoor cushions Monday morning and wouldn’t you know it Tuesday morning it rained. 🤣

I hope your week is going well.

Nikon D850| Nikkor 500mm PF-e| PS CC

more to come…

61 thoughts on “Whatever Weds. Owls”

  1. Pingback: Reader Favorites 2024 – Circadianreflections Blog

  8. Your devotion to hiking out and watching is admirable, Deborah, and I am so glad you were rewarded with sightings. I liked how in your post you kept us in suspense and then we got to finally see the hatchlings in that incredible photo. When I got to the photo I lol because they are so very adorable! How glorious that you got to see these two newborn creatures.

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  12. There was a great horned owl pair nesting at a local refuge, but I didn’t manage to see them myself. Talk about magnets — they certainly were magnets for local photographers. I’m so glad you had the patience and equipment to capture these precious images; seeing them made my morning!

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  15. Perseverence! Mama owl knows her duty. But o my, how cute ducklings are, so ugly are owlets. Wonderful shots of wonderful creatures, Deborah, don’t get me wrong, but some birds don’t win the beauty contest. 🙂

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    1. It did! Oh, I probably should have explained branching. When the Owlets start to test their wings and move out of the nest because they get too big they move to nearby branches where they move around gripping the branches with talons, and flap their wings, and start taking short flights and before you know it they fledge!

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  25. I love that first photo, Deborah. Mom looks lost in thought. The owlets are so cute, and I see what you mean about mom keeping an eye on you. Thanks for your perseverance in getting these photos, and thanks so much for sharing them.

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